Los Angeles Times

Bolivian official beaten to death by protesters

The deputy interior minister had been taken hostage by striking miners.

- By Carlos Valdez Valdez writes for the Associated Press.

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Striking Bolivian miners kidnapped and beat to death the country’s deputy interior minister in a shocking spasm of violence following weeks of tension over dwindling paychecks in a region hit hard by falling metal prices.

The miners were demanding they be allowed to work for private companies, who promise to put more cash in their pockets.

The issue has bedeviled President Evo Morales, who began as a champion of the working class and privatized the nation’s mining industry, only to see his support crater amid the downturn. Miners say Morales has become a shill of the rich, and done little to help them make ends meet as the economy slows.

Deputy Minister Rodolfo Illanes, whose formal title is vice minister of the interior regime, had traveled Thursday to the scene of the already-violent protests in an effort to negotiate with the strikers who armed themselves with dynamite and seized several highways.

Instead, Illanes was “savagely beaten” to death by miners, Defense Minister Reymi Ferreira told Red Uno television, his voice breaking.

An autopsy found Illanes died from trauma to the brain and thorax. Seven miners’ leaders were detained by police and their offices raided.

“This is a political conspiracy, not a social demand,” Morales said at a news conference Friday, accusing his opponents of backing the miners’ demands. He called for three days of official mourning, criticized the “cowardly attitude” of the protesters and insisted that his government had “always been open” to negotiatio­n.

Illanes “was kidnapped, tortured and murdered,” Morales said.

Businessma­n and opposition leader Samuel Doria Medina rejected Morales’ comments about the opposition and said the government should try to make peace.

“The prices of minerals have gone down and the costs of production have increased,” he said. “That is the cause of the protest.”

“Morales would do well to be critical of himself and set aside false conspiracy theories blaming the right wing and the media,” former President Jorge Quiroga said, “when the undercurre­nt of these protests is the crisis.”

The fatal beating came after the killings of two protesters in clashes with police Wednesday, deaths that likely fueled the tensions.

Illanes, who was also a lawyer and university professor, had gone to Panduro, 80 miles south of La Paz, to open a dialogue with the miners. They had blockaded the highway there since Monday, stranding thousands of vehicles and passengers.

Officials said he was taken hostage by the miners Thursday morning. There were reports that he had heart problems. At midday Illanes said on his Twitter account: “My health is fine, my family can be calm.”

Illanes’ body was later found abandoned on the side of the highway, his car burned. Illanes’ driver escaped.

Labor Minister Gonzalo Trigoso said the highway was clear Friday morning, as the miners returned to their camps.

Bolivia’s informal miners number about 100,000 and work in self-managed cooperativ­es that primarily produce zinc, tin, silver, gold and lead concentrat­es. They want to be able to associate with private companies, but are prohibited from doing so. The government argues that if they associate with multinatio­nal companies they will no longer be cooperativ­es.

The influentia­l National Federation of Mining Cooperativ­es of Bolivia, a strong ally of Morales when metal prices were high, was organized in the 1980s amid growing unemployme­nt in the sector that followed the closure of state mines.

Federation members went on an indefinite protest after negotiatio­ns over mining legislatio­n failed. Strikers are also demanding access to new mineral deposits and subsidized electricit­y to help them handle the crisis in the mining sector.

Bolivia has seen increased social agitation as a financial slowdown hit an economy heavily dependent on natural gas and minerals, which account for more than 70% of foreign export sales. Export earnings fell by about a third in the first half of the year. Though down from recent years, Bolivia’s economy is still expected to see GDP growth of about 3.9% in 2016, outperform­ing its South American neighbors.

Last month the country saw other protests following the closure of a state textile factory and eliminatio­n of more than 800 jobs. There has also been a long demonstrat­ion by disabled people who demanded a raise to their government subsidies.

Morales’ own political rise came through labor battles by coca leaf growers, who used road blockades as their main tactic.

 ?? Juan Karita Associated Press ?? PROTESTING MINERS clash with police Thursday in Panduro, Bolivia. More violence the previous day had left two miners dead. The protesters want to be allowed to work for private companies, who could pay more.
Juan Karita Associated Press PROTESTING MINERS clash with police Thursday in Panduro, Bolivia. More violence the previous day had left two miners dead. The protesters want to be allowed to work for private companies, who could pay more.

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